Remember What the Dormouse Said
by paynesgrey
Summary: When Sylar finds her, he asks Claire again and again, what does she really want? Season 3 spoilers. Loosely inspired by "White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane. Claire x Sylar. ONESHOT.


AN: Written for the "Allergic" theme on sylaire_chall on Livejournal. Thank you to rtwofan for the beta job.

"_When logic and proportion  
Have fallen sloppy dead  
And the White Knight is talking backwards  
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"  
Remember what the dormouse said;  
"FEED YOUR HEAD"_

"White Rabbit" by Jefferson Airplane

Remember What the Dormouse Said

He looks at the front entrance of the distribution plant, and Sylar idly notices the orange logo on the front sign. He's followed Claire all the way to this place, where it's obvious she's been hiding people with abilities, but he's too late and no one is left but Claire.

Sylar walks past the sign and smells the scent of oranges. Claire's trail leads to the back of the warehouse, and he finds amusement that she's here at a business in making orange juice. He used to be allergic to them when he was little, but ever since gaining Claire's ability, he hasn't been allergic to anything. He's had little time to enjoy the fruit since having this ability, but he's never given much thought to it until now – funny how oranges and finding Claire have come together.

Instead of going through the boring task of finding her, Claire comes out of the shadows and meets him with an attitude as always. She glares at him but with a smirk forced upon her face.

"Claire, Claire, you know you can't keep running," he says mockingly. She raises her chin in defiance. "I always find you. It's like bringing cattle to the slaughter."

"You're too late. I helped her get away." Claire is pretty proud of herself. She's still tense in his presence, but Sylar knows she's more worried about him going after the woman with the magnetic ability. He's told Claire before that he isn't going to kill her, and he finds it oddly alluring that she's always believed him.

Especially after all this time.

"And what makes you think I came for that woman?" He picks up one of the oranges in the boxes to their side. He smiles as he looks down at the pesky peeling covering the sweet fruit inside.

Sylar turns back to her when he hears her snort. She crosses her arms and anxiously shifts her weight to one leg and then back to the next while she clamors nervously in front of him.

"It's a power I can see you dying to get your hands on," she says, her voice emulating his mocking from before. It's always like this with them, a war of who can sound braver and more controlled.

"Well, if you must know, my telekinesis does just fine without having power over magnets," he reveals. She looks at him skeptically, and he rewards her with a sheepish smirk.

"Then why else? Why are you following me if you don't want the people I'm helping?" Claire asks.

Sylar looks down again at the orange in his hands. He's made a small cut in the peeling, but he hasn't begun to break the surface.

"I was hoping you'd be clever enough to figure that out," he says. Sylar hears her rough sigh as he cuts perfect incisions down the orange's peel with his power.

"You can't stop me from helping these people," she says, turning away. For a minute he doesn't think she's understood his meaning, but then she adds, "I'm tired of telling you that you're wasting your time with me."

"I don't believe you're being truthful when you tell me no, Claire," he says flippantly.

"Well," she says with a snide smile and a very Claire-like eye-roll, "Isn't it fortunate for me that you don't know me so well."

Before she can leave again, he stops her, not with his powers, but with a simple phrase. "You and I both know I am not the worst thing endangering these people."

She turns around and glares at him. "I'll never give up with I'm doing… most certainly not to join you."

He merely grins at her. "You don't know what you're missing."

Sylar watches as her eyes look him up and down, and somewhere inside of him, he feels slightly exposed. He keeps his composure, even under her fierce green eyes.

"I will not help you find people to just exploit them for your own gain," she says. "You're crazier than I imagined."

"How do you know that's the only thing I want anymore?" he challenges. He sees her scrunch her brow in annoyance.

"That's all I know about you, Sylar." Her voice drops low. "That's all I want to know."

He times it. She blinks and he's in front of her, blockading her exit. His hands ache at his sides to touch her. Claire stills, and he feels her looking into his eyes, reaching for something past his shield of darkness.

"I told you, I don't care if you and I are going to live forever. We both want different things," she says harshly.

"And I don't think you're so sure." He's seen it before, that glimpse, that flicker of a shadow inside a girl who sees herself more than just a sweet, home-grown cheerleader. "You don't know how special you are." He drops the orange into his large jacket pocket.

"I do, that doesn't mean I want to be evil like you!" she storms, throwing up her hands and ready to push him out of the way. He catches them both, and she freezes. They're locked in another dark stare, and his smile grows as she fights his grip.

"Do you really want to be the good girl forever, Claire? To be the angel that is free from her father's shadow? It's such a shame all the things he's done, and you think by what you're doing you're making up for his sins," he says. She doesn't want to hear it. She looks away to the side, and he can feel her breath quicken.

"Your slate is clean, Claire. Now tell me what you really want to do," he tests her.

He can tell his baiting tone is tugging at her last nerve. She's been raised by the autonomous and efficient Noah Bennet, but at times she is so far from like him. She takes on her biological family's emotions with her true heart shrouded behind midnight sins and decaying composure.

Her shoulders shudder as he moves closer. He can feel her barriers crumbling down as she begins to transform. She's been shape-shifting all this time as a good little hero, when in reality the title has never suited her.

Sylar studies her in angry silence. She's so close, and he just wants to twist her so her shell cracks a little more, and then he'll see her truly be born.

"Claire," he repeats breathlessly. "Tell me what you truly desire."

"I want to punch your face for stalking me all the time!" she quickly roars.

"Good, good, and?"

Claire looks to her side; she's shaking from rising anger and panic. "I want to hate my dad for what he put the family through, but I can't. I want to hate Nathan for abandoning me, and not being the man I thought he was."

"Go on." She's not even paying attention to him anymore. Tears trail down her cheeks.

"I want to hate Peter, but I can't. I want to hate him for being so weak," she says with choked sobs. She looks to him. "For being so weak he couldn't even beat _you_."

Sylar smiles with satisfaction. Claire composes herself, and he loosens his grip enough for her to pull away. She sneers at him. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"It's a start." He stares her, and he can see the animosity illuminating the green in her eyes. She rushes up to him, and he stills as her face comes less than inches away from his.

She whispers, soft and dark against the shell of his ear. "What do _you_ want? Quit dancing around and just say it," she demands.

He lets out a barely controlled breath. "I can wait for what I want." He steps away from her and pulls the orange out of the pocket. After the peel is stripped away, he takes a bite. Claire glares at him, but she smiles a little. She seems to have gained a small victory in his answer. He can let her have it.

"Oh? Aren't you the one that takes whatever he wants, even by force?" she says, and she laughs at him. Her eyes look different now. Her smile isn't forced. She's amused she's gained this slight advantage over him.

The truth is he likes that about her; it doesn't do much against his ego.

He steps forward and leans close to her again. "Some things are worth waiting for," he whispers in an optimistic tone.

He watches as she's a little stunned; her mouth opens slightly and she's focused on the floor. Her eyes rise, and he feels the weight of her stare moving up from his chin. The heat from their bodies draws them closer. He can hear her breath rise and fall. He can hear his own. Suddenly their breathing sounds exactly the same to him. One more lurch forward and he'll be falling quickly instead of stepping slowly.

He's more than surprised when it's Claire who takes the plunge. Her mouth is soft, and her taste is like something he's had before but has forgotten through the cycles of time. He grabs her and pulls her close, and she sinks into him, teasing his tongue and exploring his warmth. He almost loses it when she moans softly, it's subtle and probably not easy for a regular person to hear, but he does and he feels her intent. She's been hiding this as long as he has. She loathes herself for it, and he's never wanted her until she moves beyond their jaded history and sees only the potential to come.

Her small hands rest on his chest, and he pulls up her face closer to his. He doesn't want to let her go. He expects explosions outside, seas of blood, and wailing screams. He kisses her and he sees humanity dying behind them, and he and Claire rise from the ashes and fly onward into a new dawn.

It's just them, and the splendor of his visions sedates him for a moment, and he whines lightly when she pulls away.

Now something more than contempt storms in her eyes. She can't even meet his face. She appears even more tortured and confused.

Her voice crackles when she speaks. "That's all I wanted to know." She hugs herself and begins to walk away. She doesn't look back, but he can tell as she shivers that her outlook has definitely changed. He's known she'd eventually see it.

She's fading away in front of him, and he wants to threaten her with a promise. He licks his lips and the taste of something other than orange lingers there. He doesn't need to threaten or promise Claire Bennet anything.

She knows it already, and this meeting was only a catalyst. Now both players are in motion. Sylar smiles and he knows that in time Claire will give up her fantasy to be the people's savior. She's so much more than that, and her talents are obviously wasted on the undeserved.

There's only one person in this world that deserves Claire Bennet, and he will wait and be ready at the very end.


End file.
